(a) whether the Government is aware of the difficulties being faced by pilgrims and local people at certain places on National Highway-58;
(b) if so, the measures being adopted by the Government to ensure smooth movement of traffic at the route; and
(c) the complete details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)
(a) to (c) The National Highway 58 (old) with total length of 528 Km starts from Delhi and traversing through Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Joshimath, terminates at Mana near Badrinath in Uttarakhand. The Delhi to Muzaffarnagar section is already four-lane and four-laning work in Muzaffarnagar to Rishikesh section is under implementation. The Rishikesh to Mana section in a length of 300 Km passes through hilly region with high altitude and heavy rainfall areas. The hill side slopes are unstable at many locations and landslides are re-curring features causing inconvenience to traffic movement. However, all out efforts are made by the implementing agencies to restore the movement of traffic within the shortest possible time subject to availability of funds and inter-se priority of works. The Government has also undertaken detailed study work for its improvement from the perspective of long term sustainability through engaging design Consultants.